BASEBALL AROUND THE WORLD!

Congrats to the Cards!

Congrats on your new ballpark …St Louis Cardinals. I know the head Groundskeeper Bill Findley has got to be happy! After all the past years struggling with those tough winters/springs/summers to grow grass in the old stadium …the new stadium is to have less shade areas and more sun for the turf.

I remember talking with Bill a few years back about some of the headaches they had trying to grow grass in the old park. They tried about everything in the book to help the turf during the year except build a new stadium.

The History of Busch stadium and its playing surface has a story of it own. When the stadium first opened in 1966 it was natural grass. Then in 1970 it became Astro Turf and it changed back to real grass in 1996. The Astro Turf years really were tough on players with the heat on the field hitting 140+ during the summer. It was used by both football and baseball which needed a durable turf. Anyway those days are gone. Congrats again!

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Murray, I moved from STL recently, and during my earlier days of covering an MLB beat I remember being in the clubhouses and watch players putting cabbage leaves under their hats as one of many ways to combat that 140-degree turf heat.

But the craziest field conditions I ever saw were Julys at Candlestick and watching Robby Thompson try to see through fog and blowing wrappers to run down a pop fly that would start at second base and wind up down the right-field foul line.

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